FBI looking into contracts at Wayne County Sheriff's Office

Jun. 24, 2013

Benny Napoleon

Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Federal agents investigating corruption in Wayne County government are eying at least two contracts in the office of Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who is considered the front-runner in the Detroit mayoral race.

Two sources with knowledge of the probe confirmed to the Free Press on Monday that a tether contract and the concessions contract are both under scrutiny.

Napoleon’s spokeswoman Paula Bridges said the sheriff welcomes the probe of the tether program, saying it has saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

“It’s politics pure and simple — attacking the integrity of the program, maligning reputations, insinuating something is wrong when it is not — it does a great disservice to the citizens,” Bridges said in a statement. She didn’t respond to a request for comment on the concession contract.

FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet declined to comment.

Both contracts have been controversial in the past.

The Free Press reported last month that the sheriff’s office acknowledged steering an additional $245,000 worth of work to Michigan Tether of Clinton Township, beyond what its contract called for, while shorting other vendors who were supposed to get larger pieces of the deal to monitor offenders.

“We are over-expending with one vendor, we are substantially under-expending with another,” Napoleon’s chief of staff Suzanne Hall told county commissioners May 22.

Lt. Dennis Ramel, who oversees the tether program for Napoleon, said the product offered by Michigan Tether includes features like two-way communication, monitoring services and a harder-to-cut metal strap that are not offered by three other firms. Ben Aycock of competing firm Actron said last month he offered a device with similar features at a lower cost but was rejected.

In the concession contract, county commissioners in April rejected a two-year extension worth $78,692 for United Custom Distribution, part of the Boji Group. The contract was to provide candies and snacks to the commissary at the Wayne County Jail, which resells them to inmates.

Commissioners asked that the contract be rebid.

The Boji Group was one of 14 companies named in grand jury subpoenas in October 2011 as part of a federal probe of corruption in county government. The subpoenas were issued to Wayne County seeking all communications with the Boji Group.

The company hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing, and its spokesman John Truscott said Boji inherited the contract when it bought out a previous distributor.

“That contract predated United Distribution,” Truscott said.

The Boji group has not been contacted by the FBI, Truscott said.

The principal of the group, Ron Boji, has been a regular contributor to county campaigns and has other ties to county business. His brother-in-law, Nader Fakhouri, was a top aide to County Executive Robert Ficano and headed Ficano’s campaign fund-raising efforts.

Boji also is a reserve deputy for Wayne County. He was sworn in Sept. 22, 2011, according to records obtained by the Free Press.